Geek Tyrant Infographic: The Decline Of Original Movies

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Geek Tyrant is one of my personal favorite websites on the net. Co-founder and editor Free Reyes posted an interesting infographic depicting the decline of original movies since 1980. It’s a fascinating topic for screenwriters writing original specs out there.

There are obviously many factors that contribute to the amount of original studio films but there is one aspect of his research I found especially interesting:

Parsing the data, I labeled movies that were remakes, sequels, adapted, and original content, and I noticed a steady decline in the overall number of original movies that were in the top 20 box office earners. But revenue of original movies has held steady, despite that drop in the number of films in the top 20.

Are you writing an original screenplay? What do you think about the information? Personally, I love original screenplays and films. They may not be earning 100 million+ opening weekends on a regular basis but they are still the foundation of every screenwriter’s aspirations.